Milestones of your baby’s first year: photos

Medically reviewed by Dr Saroja Balan, Paediatrician and Neonatologist | July 2022 |

From smiling to standing, find out when your baby is likely to reach all the exciting development milestones of his or her first year of life.

Steve Labedessa for BabyCenter

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Vision development

Looking at the things around her delights your baby and it is how she learns about the world. Your baby's vision develops and changes a lot over the first year of her life.

Newborn: Your baby cannot see very clearly yet. She can see best things that are close to her – up to about 30cm away from her face. She will love staring at faces the most, so hold her up close to you and watch how she studies your features as you speak and make different expressions.

One to two months: Your baby will start recognising the faces she sees most often and noticing different colours and shades.

Three to four months: Your baby will begin to see how far away something is from her. This is called depth perception. This will help her to grab at things such as your hair or necklace, or toys that are near her.

Five to six months: Your baby can now recognise objects even when she sees only part of it. It's a good time to play peek-a-boo. See her laugh when she uncovers her favourite toy or sees your face reappearing from behind your hands.

Seven to eight months: Your baby can see more clearly and further away now. She will be able to recognise someone or something across a room.

Nine to 10 months: Your baby can now see smaller details and with the help of her motor skills, will be able to pick up small objects.

11 to 12 months: Her vision has now developed and is similar to an adult's. She is able to see near and far, differentiate between colours and can recognise people and objects that she's familiar with.
Steve Labedessa for BabyCenter

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Smiling

By about two months, you'll see your baby's first true smile. This is one of the most heart-warming milestones. Your baby may have smiled before in his sleep, or as he tries to pass gas, but this is usually a reflex of his face muscles.

His first true smile, that shows your baby's happiness, also called a social smile, usually comes by two months or a bit later for some babies.

A smile is a sign that your baby is starting to develop social communication skills, and before you know it he'll be babbling, laughing, and clapping.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're ever worried about your baby's development, speak with your doctor.
iStock.com / Juanmonino

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Speech development

Long before your baby says her first word, she's learning the rules of language and how adults use it to communicate.

Newborn to three months: Your baby's first way of communicating with you is by crying. It's how she tells you she needs something. You might hear differences in the way she cries when she's in pain, hungry, angry or sad.

When your baby's happy, she'll make adorable cooing sounds. You may hear a delightful variety of gurgles, sighs, and coos. She's testing her voice and how you respond to her sounds.

Four to six months: Your baby will start to combine sounds like gaga, dada, tata, etc. She doesn't yet associate these sounds with anything or anyone, but she's practicing to say words. At this age, even if you hear a 'mama' or 'papa', it's sure to melt your heart, but your baby doesn't really link those words to you quite yet. On the other hand, she'll start to recognise some words such as her name for example.

Seven to nine months: You might notice your baby use different tones as she babbles, as if she's having a conversation. She's picking up on the tones and expressions she sees and hears around her and trying them out for herself. Talk back as if you understand what she's saying and enjoying the conversation. This will encourage her to keep speaking with you.

Although she cannot say the words, at this age your baby can understand many of them and knows that specific words have precise meanings. By about nine months, you might hear the first real 'mama' or 'papa'.

10 to 12 months: Your baby may say her first words understanding what she's saying around her first birthday. She is also capable of making herself understood by pointing, using different tones, facial expressions and hand movements. She'll be able to understand simple instructions and phrases such as 'come here', 'time for bed', or 'we're going to visit nani'. The best you can do to help your child learn words and express herself, is to talk to her regularly, read books together and listen to her in turn.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're ever worried about your baby's development, speak with your doctor.
Veer

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Head control

At birth, your baby won't be able to hold his head up very well. The head is the heaviest part of a baby's body. A newborn's neck and upper body muscles are not yet strong enough to hold it up. That's why you'll need to support your baby's head with one hand every time you carry him.

By the time your baby turns four months, his upper body and neck muscles will have strengthened enough for him to hold his head steady, and even do baby push-ups - when he's on his tummy, he'll be able to lift his head and shoulders high, using his arms for support. This mini push-up helps him to strengthen his muscles further and will give him a better view of what's going on around him.

To help his muscle development, give him some tummy time daily. You can also use some specific massage techniques that help to strengthen the muscles. To know how, see our video on massage for strengthening the muscles.

Every baby will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're worried about your baby's development, do speak with his doctor.
Luciane Garbin for BabyCenter

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Rolling over

Some babies manage to roll over as early as three months, others take as long as six months. They will start by being able to turn only in one direction and when they master that, they'll do the other side too.

When your baby does roll over it can be quite a sudden development. That's why you should never leave your baby unattended on a raised surface such as a sofa, bed or changing table. You never know when she'll suddenly roll over.

The muscles she needs to roll over are much the same as the ones she'll need for sitting and then crawling. So rolling over is a first step in your baby becoming mobile.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace, but if it takes longer than six months for your baby to turn, consult your doctor.
Steve Labedessa for BabyCenter

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Sitting

Once your baby is rolling over easily on both sides, he’ll get ready to start sitting independently.

You can start by propping him up into a sitting position with cushions. This gives him a better perspective about the world around him and the motivation to sit up on his own so that he can continue to enjoy the view. However, never leave him unattended when propped up because he can fall over and might not be able to get back up.

Your baby will start to sit independently anytime between five and seven months. Once he does, this will free his hands for exploring, and he'll learn how to reach for a toy when sitting.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're ever worried about your baby's development, speak with your doctor.
Studio Memoir for BabyCenter

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Weaning and starting solids

For the first six months of your baby's life, she'll only need breastmilk. Once she turns six months however, she needs more nutrition and so you'll gradually need to introduce weaning foods.

It's best to introduce them one at a time, with a gap of three to four days between foods. This will help you identify allergies if your baby has any.

As soon as your baby has anything else to eat than breastmilk, her poo will change. Exclusively breastfed babies have yellow poo, sometimes will little lumps of curdled milk in it. Once your baby has formula, or other foods, her poo will become more like adult's poo – smelly, thick and brown.

Your baby will also need to start drinking water as soon as you start her on solid foods. Breastmilk contains enough water to look after your baby's needs for nutrition and fluids. But when she starts having solid foods, she'll need extra water to keep hydrated.

If she doesn't drink enough, your baby might get constipated. You can tell if your baby is having enough fluids by the colour of her urine. If it's dark yellow, she needs more fluids. It should be light in colour and she should pee at least six times in 24 hours.

As your baby grows, she will be able to have more variety of foods and new textures. Know more about what foods to introduce when.

Remember that every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're ever worried about your baby's development, speak with your doctor.
Studio Memoir for BabyCenter

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Grasping

Your baby's ability to grasp, hold and carry objects will develop gradually over the first year of his life. As his motor skills and eyesight develop, there will be a big change in how your baby interacts with his surrounding.

Newborn to two months: At birth, and for the first few months of his life, your baby will often keep his fists tightly clenched. If he opens his hands and you place your finger in his palm, he'll curl his tiny fingers strongly shut around yours. This instinct to grasp is a reflex, and it's at its strongest for the first eight weeks of your baby's life.

Three months to four months: Your baby's hand-eye coordination is starting to develop. As his eyesight improves, he'll start to notice toys he'd like to hold. He might not be able to grasp them yet, so he'll just bat at them. If you put something in his hand, such as a rattle, he may be able to hold it for a few seconds.

Four months to eight months: At four to five months, your baby can pick up large objects, such as building blocks. At six months, his hand-eye coordination improves and so he'll be able to pull things towards himself. He'll also be able to pass something from one hand to the other. At this age, he'll like banging things together and might enjoy rattles that make noise when he moves them.

Nine months to 12 months: Your baby can pick things up easily. He's enjoying the concept of gravity and you might notice him drop something over and over again. As his coordination improves, he may try to grab his spoon and feed himself at mealtimes. Be ready for a mess though as he may not always be on target!

Each baby develops at his or her own pace. If you're worried about your baby's development, do speak with his doctor.
Luciane Garbin for BabyCenter

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Teething

There's a large range of what is considered normal when it comes to your baby's first teeth coming out. Some babies are born with one or two teeth, and some don't have teeth yet for their first birthday.

Many babies get their first set of teeth, which are usually the middle, lower teeth, by between five and six months. Once the first teeth have emerged, the next ones, which are usually the middle upper teeth, come in the following months. You can see more about the order in which teeth appear here.

To help your baby through the teething process, you can cool a teether in the fridge and let her chew on it. This cool pressure helps to numb the pain. For more ideas, see our article on teething remedies.
Ruslan Dashinsky/iStock

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Crawling

Once your baby can sit properly, it won't be long before he tries to get more mobile. Your baby may start crawling when he's between six months and nine months old.

By the time he's a year old, he's likely to be crawling well and exploring his surroundings.

Bear in mind that some babies never crawl and get around by bottom-shuffling instead. Other babies move directly to pulling up, standing, and walking. It's getting mobile that's important, not how your baby does it.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. Do speak with your doctor if you're at all concerned about your baby's development.
Ruslan Dashinsky/iStock

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Standing

At around six months old, your baby may be able to bear her weight on her feet and bounce up and down actively. You’ll need to support her and place her feet on a hard surface such as the floor. This will really exercise her muscles.

By nine months old, your baby is strong enough to pull herself up and stand while holding onto something for support. Standing will be a new sensation for your baby that she finds very exciting and you might catch her trying to do it at all times of the day or night.

Pulling herself up to a standing position is easier for your baby than sitting back down however, so if you catch her crying while she's standing, it's possibly because she feels stuck. She'll need your help to get back down. You can teach your baby to bend her knees to get back down.

Till she has mastered this skill, don't leave your baby standing unattended as she can fall over and hurt herself.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're ever worried about your baby's development, speak with your doctor.
Andrea Gomez for BabyCenter

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Walking

Once your baby can stand with confidence, he will soon try to walk about while holding onto something, called cruising. Between cruising and crawling, there will be few places where your baby can't get to any more, so you'll need to be sure your house is babyproofed.

By about 11 months, your baby might be able to stand without support, and sit back down. This will make him more confident to take the first steps.

By 12 months, he may walk while holding your hand, though he may not take his first steps alone for a while longer. Don't be surprised if your baby starts out by walking with his feet apart and toes turned inward or outward. This is quite normal and he'll adjust his stride as he gets used to walking.

At around 13 months, your baby may be walking on his own, although a bit unsteadily. If your baby still hasn't stopped cruising, it just means walking on his own is going to take a little longer. Some children don't walk until they are 17 months or 18 months old.

Every baby is unique and will reach milestones at his or her own pace. If you're ever worried about your baby's development, speak with your doctor.